Year after year, violent crime is increasing in California, while the number of arrests is decreasing. A report by Attorney General Rob Bonta revealed that these crimes grew in 2022 by more than 6% for the second consecutive year. However, despite the increase, the arrest rate declined by 2.7% over the same time period:
Property and violent crimes continue to have devastating consequences for communities across the state, and gun violence remains a major threat to public safety. ...My office is committed to confronting these crimes head-on by holding law-breakers accountable, providing victims the resources they need to heal, and working proactively to prevent crime from happening in the first place.
More robberies and fewer arrests
The report's findings show that increases are more pronounced for certain types of crime. Petty thefts soared 21.3%, and property crimes increased 6.2%.
Bonta attributes the increase in robberies to a reduction in the number of full-time law enforcement officers (1.3% fewer officers) and a decrease in the number of prosecutors working (0.3%).
On the other hand, homicide arrests decreased by 4.2% (from 1,550 in 2021 to 1,485 in 2022), and auto theft arrests were down by 8.5%.
One of the important factors influencing the reduction in arrests is the reforms to the criminal justice laws, such as Propositions 47 and 57, which dictate that thefts under $950 no longer require arrest. As a result, the offenders remain on the streets.
Laws benefiting criminals: Propositions 57 and 47
Proposition 47 is a law that was approved by voters in 2014. It lowered the penalties for crimes that were considered "serious" to "misdemeanors" relating to certain types of theft and drug crime. Among the most criticized regulations of the law are:
- Raising the minimum amount of stolen property from $400 to $950 for a theft case to be classified as a felony.
- Offenders who are serving prison sentences are allowed to apply for resentencing according to new classifications in the law.
- Offenders who have already served their sentences may reclassify their prior convictions as misdemeanors.
- Most theft suspects are not required to appear in court, so there are little or no consequences.
Proposition 57, also called the "Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act" was passed in 2016, and allows some offenders classified as "non-violent" to be released before completing their sentences. Other regulations in the proposition include:
- Prohibiting prosecutors from charging juveniles as adults without a judge's approval
- Allowing those who were tried as adults for crimes committed when they were minors to appeal their sentences.
Eliminating cash bail for some defendants was an "emergency" measure implemented by the California Judicial Council to reduce the prison population during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Although the statewide zero-bail order expired in June of the same year, courts consider each defendant's ability to pay when setting bail amounts.
The application of the measure in previous years also resulted in an increase in violent crime by repeat offenders.
